“Final” 53 Man Rosters Set and Snapping Battles Resolved

Posted on August 31, 2021 by longsnap

Today is the final cutdown day in the NFL and all rosters must be at 53 players. Practice squads can be formed tomorrow afternoon with up to 16 players. Thus, rosters and the snapping role for each team is set, but always subject to change. For example, some teams may take the same approach as last season and keep a snapper on the practice squad in case of an emergency.

A few teams went down to the wire with their snapping decisions. The Panther kept veteran JJ Jansen over drafted rookie Thomas Fletcher, who was placed on injured reserve. The Chargers kept Matt Overton after incumbent Cole Mazza was injured, the Rams went with Matt Orzech over Steven Wirtel and the Steelers chose Christian Kuntz over Kameron Canaday.

Stay tuned for any practice squad moves or other possible changes before Week One action.

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Long Snapping Update at the 80 Man Roster Deadline

Posted on August 24, 2021 by longsnap

One NFL preseason game remains and one roster cut to get to 53 next week. Before that, each team had to get to 80 players by 4PM Eastern time today.

Today’s deadline impacted the snapping position, with veteran Carson Tinker released by the Giants. The Patriots waived recently signed Brian Khoury with Joe Cardona returning to practice, while the Chargers waived Ryan Langan.

Snapping competitions remain with the Panthers, Chargers, Rams and Steelers.

Last week marked the potential end of an era for Lions snapper Don Muhlbach, who was released by Detroit on his 40th birthday. If this is the end of the line, Muhlbach played 17 seasons, 260 games and made 2,347 total snaps with just one block. Congrats on a great career.

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NFL Snapping Update after First Mandated Roster Cuts

Posted on August 17, 2021 by longsnap

The first week of the NFL preseason is complete and the first mandatory roster reduction from 90 to 85 players happened yesterday.

A few snappers were waived at the deadline, including client Liam McCullough (Raiders) and rookie Turner Bernard (Vikings). Veteran snapper Matt Overton was added yesterday by the Chargers after Cole Mazza suffered an apparent shoulder injury. The Chargers also have rookie Ryan Langan on the roster.

Other snappers were re-signed and waived again prior to the 85 man roster deadline and first preseason game, including Mitchell Fraboni (Texans) and Rex Sunahara (Dolphins). Drew Scott (Chiefs) and Joe Fortunato (Packers) were also waived in recent weeks and prior to any game action. Brian Khoury was added by the Patriots following an injury to Joe Cardona.

While client Patrick Scales was on the COVID list, the Bears worked out veterans Beau Brinkley, Kyle Nelson and Garrison Sanborn. The Chargers also had a workout for Brinkley and Nelson as well prior to signing Overton and before Mazza’s injury.

With all of these moves and rosters now locked at 85, the Panthers, Lions, Chargers, Rams, Patriots, Giants and Steelers have multiple snappers on the roster with the 80 man reduction deadline coming August 24.

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2021 Patrick Mannelly Award Preseason Watch List

Posted on August 9, 2021 by longsnap

The college football season is right around the corner and the Watch List of 31 long snappers in early consideration for the 2021 Patrick Mannelly Award was revealed this afternoon.

The Award, named after former Chicago Bears long snapping great Patrick Mannelly, will be presented for the third time in December to the snapper judged to be the best among all seniors at the FBS level.

You may see some familiar names from last season, as changes to NCAA eligibility rules allowed many seniors from last year to return for 2021. In addition, many seniors this season can elect to return for another season of eligibility in 2022.

Here is this year’s Watch List

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The CFL is Back!

Posted on August 8, 2021 by longsnap

After missing last season due to COVID, the CFL season is underway. The CFL uses only Canadian players to snap and many of the same names from the 2019 season are back, although some are in different places.

Here are the snappers by team:

British Columbia 40 Tanner Doll

Calgary 52 Aaron Crawford

Edmonton 46 Chad Rempel

Hamilton 58 Gordon Whyte

Montreal 35 Pierre-Luc Caron

Ottawa 50 Louis-Philippe Bourassa

Saskatchewan 46 Jorgen Hus

Toronto 58 Jake Reinhart

Winnipeg 40 Mike Benson

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Evening Snapping Update

Posted on July 26, 2021 by longsnap

My post this morning provided an updated look at the snapping situation around the NFL with the start of training camps. Had I waited until today’s transaction deadline, I would have included the Chiefs signing Drew Scott after placing James Winchester on the COVID reserve list. In addition, the Texans waived Mitchell Fraboni after recently adding him to the roster.

So, at least for now, we are back to 10 teams with two snappers on the roster with the Chiefs replacing the Texans.

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NFL Training Camps and the Snapping Outlook

Posted on July 26, 2021 by longsnap

Every NFL training camp will be underway by tomorrow, so this is a good time to look at the snapping situation across the League. Ten teams have two snappers in camp after the Dolphins waived Rex Sunahara a few days ago. Of the ten teams, Carolina and Minnesota have rookie snappers from April’s Draft class. Camaron Cheeseman is the other rookie and the only snapper on the Washington roster.

With COVID cases rising and teams having issues getting all players vaccinated, I anticipate some teams will be cautious and keep a snapper on the practice squad in case of emergency similar to last season.

Below are the ten clubs starting training camp with two snappers:

CAROLINA: JJ Jansen/Thomas Fletcher

DETROIT: Don Muhlbach/Scott Daly

GREEN BAY: Hunter Bradley/Joe Fortunato

HOUSTON: Jon Weeks/Mitchell Fraboni

LAS VEGAS: Trent Sieg/Liam McCullough

CHARGERS: Cole Mazza/Ryan Langan

RAMS: Steven Wirtel/Matt Orzech

MINNESOTA: Andrew DePaola/Turner Bernard

GIANTS: Casey Kreiter/Carson Tinker

PITTSBURGH: Kameron Canaday/Christian Kunz

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Phil Steele’s 2021 Preseason All-American Team Long Snappers

Posted on June 29, 2021 by longsnap

College football season will be here soon as evidenced by the release of Phil Steele’s 2021 College Football Preview magazine. Volume 27 is, once again, a must-have for any college football fan and especially one that follows long snappers.

Like every year, this is the only magazine to devote specific attention to long snappers. One of the ways Phil Steele does this is his All-American Team that features a snapper on all four teams, as well as his selection of the top four snappers for each conference.

This year’s First Team All-American snapper is Damon Johnson (USC). Johnson was First Team last year, a Mannelly Award finalist and now back for another season thanks to COVID. Cal Adomitis (Pittsburgh) is Second Team, Keegan Markgraf (Utah) is Third Team and Adam Higuera (Tulsa) is Fourth Team. Higuera was also Fourth Team last year.

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One Snapper Added and One Waived as OTAs Conclude

Posted on June 21, 2021 by longsnap

With off-season workouts concluded and training camps scheduled for late next month in the NFL, one snapper was signed and one was waived.

Mitchell Fraboni signed with the Texans. He is from the 2019 NFL Draft class and, while he has had some tryouts, this is his first NFL contract. The Patriots waived Wes Farnsworth, who was recently signed.

With these moves, 11 NFL teams are expected to open training camps with two snappers on the 90-man roster.

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Latest Snapping News and Moves

Posted on June 8, 2021 by longsnap

This time of year tends to be a slow period for NFL news, but there have been a few developments that impact the snapping position and long snappers.

The Bills signed Reid Ferguson to a three-year contract extension that will keep him under contract until 2024.

Bengals snapper Dan Godsil appears to have retired after being placed on the Reserved/Retired list, leaving veteran Clark Harris as the only snapper on the roster.

Brian Schneider, who was to lead the special teams units for the Jaguars, stepped away for personal reasons. Schneider was replaced by Nick Sorensen

Finally, the USFL may be returning from a decades-long hiatus and could potentially offer long snappers a viable outdoor playing option. Caution is advised, however, as there have been many leagues that have come and gone over the years including:

UFL (2009-2012)

NFL Europe (1991-2007)

FXFL (2014-2016)

XFL (2001)

XFL 2.0 (2020)

Alliance of American Football (2019)

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